Create Awareness, Share Knowledge and Build Solid Networks on a global scale around the themes of fish migration and free-flowing rivers.

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England, Wales, Ireland

Event: Barmby Barrage open day

John Shannon, East Yorkshire Rivers Trust

Eel release: David Bellamy was a person who over the years created awareness about the Ecological issues from the 70’s onwards. He was invited to stock some elvers into the re opened Derwent on the WFMD.

Event: Loughs Agency Word Fish Migration Day Public Outreach Event

Loughs Agency – Riverwatch Aquarium‎

We had a great World Fish Migration Day on the banks of the River Foyle here in Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland. We had a small marquee with info panels about our local migratory fish and booklets to give a way to the public as well as entries for the colouring in competition. Thanks!

Event: River Taff Fish Migration Event, Wales

Peter Gough, Cardiff Harbour Authority & Natural Resources Wales

Our event was badly affected by the weather. It poured with rain all day and, at a location where we expected many hundreds or thousands of visitors, there were probably only 100 or so all day. This was a huge shame as a lot of work had been invested in the event by the partners.

Event: A Fishy Tale from the Classroom

Lucy Morris, WRT

This week, pupils at Culmstock Primary School in Devon welcomed some unusually fishy companions to their classroom and did their bit to help conserve one of the South West’s most iconic species of fish, the Atlantic salmon. The pupils took delivery of more than 100 tiny salmon fry as part of a project called ‘Salmon in the Classroom’, run by local environmental charity, the Westcountry Rivers Trust. The event is one of many taking place all over the world this week as part of World Fish Migration Day, which takes place this Saturday 24th May.

The fry had been reared in a local hatchery, where fertilised eggs are hatched into alevins and cared for as they develop into fry. A group of children from the school then released the fry back into their local river, the Culm. The released fry will help boost the wild salmon population in the river, as part of conservation efforts to prevent further decline of Atlantic salmon populations in the UK.

John Hickey from the Westcountry Rivers Trust said, “While visiting the release site, the children also had some close encounters with the bugs and beasties that live in the river. A sample was taken to identify which aquatic invertebrates were living in the river water. The assemblage of invertebrates found gives an indication of water quality, as some species can only survive if pollution levels are low. There were some unusual species in the sample taken on the Culm, including stoneflies. These species indicate that water quality in the river is good.”

Salmon in the Classroom is part of the Axe and Exe River Improvement Project, funded by the Environment Agency’s Catchment Restoration Fund. The Westcountry Rivers Trust is the lead partner in this project and has been working with farmers and landowners, businesses and local interest groups to carry out restoration work in the River Axe and River Exe catchments over the past three years.

Good water quality means a healthy river ecosystem and salmon require a healthy river ecosystem in which to spawn and lay their eggs. The pupils of Culmstock Primary School are hopeful that the fry they have reared and released will one day make it back to the Culm to breed, ensuring that our most iconic species of fish, the Atlantic salmon, has a future in the rivers of the Westcountry.

Event: WORLD FISH MIGRATION DAY CELEBRATED ON THE RIVER VYRNWY

The Severn Rivers Trust

1,500 elvers were set free in the River Vyrnwy to celebrate World Fish Migration Day on Saturday 24th May. The release was part of a conservation mission by the Trust and our partner the Sustainable Eel Group to relocate more than 5 million critically endangered European eels across the Severn Catchment. Lisa Barlow, Project Officer at the Severn Rivers Trust said, “the conservation initiative would also increase awareness of eels among young people”. Similar releases of eels has happened in other areas, including into the River Tern at Attingham Park near Shrewsbury. There will also be a release at the Shrewsbury River Festival on Sunday 8th June.